


Hold Tight

by masi



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 05:45:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3680178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masi/pseuds/masi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nijimura meets Akashi on the Superman one summer day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold Tight

**Author's Note:**

> Written for nijiaka week, day 7: alternate universe.  
> Credits: I used the prompt "sat next to each other on a rollercoaster ride" from [ this list of AUs](http://tinytmas.tumblr.com/post/92287948336).  
> Thank you for reading!

Shuuzou has better things to do during summer vacation than queuing up to ride the Superman for the millionth time. The line is like a thousand feet long already, the sun is beating down on his head, his T-shirt is sticking to his back, and Tatsuya – who dragged him and Kagami to Six Flags today – is making yet another passive-aggressive comment that Kagami won’t get. Tatsuya is going to say something he regrets very soon, and then he’ll try to make up for it by buying Kagami a boatload of burgers later. Tatsuya will smile fondly as Kagami inhales them all, and Shuuzou will be irritated and bored out of his mind.

He used to like amusement parks when he was kid, but they’re not as fun since he moved to LA from Tokyo four years ago. He has to take his siblings to Disney Land at least twice each summer now and come to Six Flags with Tatsuya and Kagami at least once. The lines are always long at Six Flags, and some of roller coaster rides make his neck hurt, and all of them make his ears hurt because of the people screaming around him. 

There are other ways to get an adrenaline rush, like pummeling the neighborhood gangs in street basketball. Tatsuya is usually game for that kind of fun too, but he also has a weird hobby of taking people out to places, walking around with them, buying them trinkets, and engaging in silent competitions. Amusement parks are a good place for that kind of thing. 

Whatever, Shuuzou tells himself, as the line inches forward. It’s only for a day. Shuuzou will just go on the Superman and Batman, eat funnel cake, and then go home. His dad’s been feeling better lately and might want to go fishing or something.

After another long ten minutes, it’s finally their turn to get on the Superman. Kagami and Tatsuya take the first two seats. Shuuzou climbs in behind them. 

He is adjusting his belt when someone comes to sit beside him. Shuuzou glances up. Then he blinks, surprised, because of the guy’s hair. It is a startling color. A beautiful red, like a magenta rose in full bloom, so bright it hurts his eyes.

Once Shuuzou gets over the hair, he notices that the guy is dressed well, almost too well for a roller coaster. That light blue polo shirt and those khaki shorts are better suited for a cruise. He smells really good too, either because he’s wearing cologne or has slathered on a sunscreen that costs more than ten dollars. Weird. This guy, Mr. Prim-and-Proper, can’t be more than seventeen. 

“Hello,” Mr. Prim-and-Proper says, looking at Shuuzou.

“Hey,” Shuuzou replies, a little flustered. 

Mr. Prim-and-Proper has a nice, soft voice. And a lot of poise. And pretty eyes, with which he is staring at Shuuzou like he has found someone very interesting.

Mr. Prim-and-Proper asks, in Japanese, “Do you know how to speak Japanese?”

“Yeah,” Shuuzou says.

The composed expression doesn’t change, but Mr. Prim-and-Proper sounds friendlier as he introduces himself as Akashi Seijuurou, visiting the United States for the summer.

“Nijimura Shuuzou,” Shuuzou replies.

Tatsuya turns around. He says, smiling, “Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Shuu’s?”

“What?” Shuuzou snaps. He does not like the way Tatsuya said “friend.” “No!”

Akashi raises his eyebrows. Shuuzou realizes that he may have sounded unnecessarily hostile. He really needs to learn how to control his temper. 

After the train starts moving forward on the tracks, and Tatsuya and Kagami have turned back around, Shuuzou says to Akashi, trying to sound friendly, “This ride can get kinda rough. You ever been on this before?”

“No,” Akashi says.

“Which ones have you been on?”

“This is my first time on a roller coaster.” 

“Oh. Right. Well. Hold tight.”

Shuuzou wonders if it would be wise to lean away, just in case Akashi decides to throw up on him or cling to him. But Akashi doesn’t look like the clingy type. Though he’d probably look good in tight shorts, the fabric stretched around his toned thighs.

Thankfully, before Shuuzou can think any more about Akashi’s thighs, the train reaches the peak of the first and scariest hill. All Shuuzou can see now is the sky around him, so clear and blue, and then the train tilts forward, and they are hurtling down, the ground rushing up to meet them, his stomach trying to climb up to his head.

“Oh,” Akashi says at one point, maybe. Shuuzou can’t hear too properly over the wind rushing past his ears and Kagami screaming.

Akashi is almost silent, his eyes very wide in his face, and his mouth open. Whenever his shoulder bumps into Shuuzou’s, he tries to sit up straight again. During the second descent, he makes an attempt to look more alive, half-lifts his arms, maybe to imitate the others, but he drops them almost immediately. He is turning pale.

Shuuzou yells into Akashi’s ear, “Let it all out! Screaming helps!”

Akashi keeps his mouth open, but no sounds come out until they have returned to the terminal and climbed out of the train. 

“Is he okay?” Kagami asks, and Akashi says, frowning, “Of course I am fine.”

“We’re going on the Batman next,” Tatsuya says. “Would you like to come with us, Akashi?”

“The Batman isn’t a good idea,” Shuuzou says. Akashi will probably pass out halfway through.

“Thank you, but I have already made other plans,” Akashi replies, his tone a bit stiff.

He walks off. Tatsuya and Kagami are heading in the opposite direction. Shuuzou looks at Akashi’s back, the narrow shoulders, the now un-tucked collar of the polo shirt.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you guys later,” Shuuzou tells Tatsuya, and hurries after Akashi.

***

When Shuuzou reaches him, Akashi asks, “Do you need something?”

Akashi is looking a little green, and he is walking faster than you need to in an amusement park. Shuuzou asks, “You want a drink? The food court’s that way.”

“No thank you,” Akashi replies, turning towards the restrooms. 

It would be weird to follow him inside, and there’s a crowd in there already, so Shuuzou waits outside. Waiting around for a guy he doesn’t know is weird too, but maybe a little less than going in and trying to be comforting as the person vomits. 

He is not sure why he’s so taken with Akashi. It’s not the prettiness factor: Akashi isn’t as pretty as Tatsuya, and besides, there are plenty of cute guys at school who he never talks to. It’s not nostalgia for Japan either: he and Tatsuya talk in Japanese sometimes. 

Maybe it’s that bizarre composure Akashi has. It’s very attractive. Shuuzou wishes he had even a tenth of that.

Akashi returns, looking a lot better, and raises his eyebrows at Shuuzou again. “There was no need to wait,” he remarks, but without any coldness in his tone.

“No problem,” Shuuzou says. “Thought I’d give you a tour. Unless your other plans are very important.” 

He pulls out a pack of gum and hands Akashi a stick. That should help with the after-vomit taste in the mouth.

Akashi puts the gum into his mouth and then looks at him for a moment. Shuuzou feels like he is being assessed. He has an urge to fix his hair and maybe pull up his shorts. He scowls at Akashi instead.

Finally, Akashi says, “I’ve seen all I wanted to see of Six Flags Magic Mountain, but I have not had a proper tour of Los Angeles yet. Have you been to Sunset Boulevard?”

“That’s a long street. What do you want to see specifically there?”

“Perhaps the sunset? Does the sun set as beautifully on another street as it does on Sunset Boulevard?” Akashi says, and then smiles suddenly, like he thinks he has made a good joke and wants Shuuzou to laugh.

“Haha,” Shuuzou says. 

Akashi continues, “I wouldn’t mind walking along it for a little while.”

“Fine, let’s go. How are we gonna get there though? A cab?”

“Leave it to me,” Akashi says.

“Okay, but I’m getting some funnel cake before we leave.”

***

Shuuzou is surprised when Akashi leads him to a silver Benz. He is even more surprised when a driver, in a three-piece suit and sunglasses, steps out of the car. He begins to feel uneasy when the driver addresses Akashi as “bocchama.” 

But when Akashi gestures for him to get into the backseat of the car, Shuuzou climbs inside. It’s been awhile since he had an adventure.

Akashi climbs in after him, and the driver shuts the door. There is enough space between Shuuzou and Akashi to fit another person easily. 

Akashi glances at Shuuzou, and then at the funnel cake in Shuuzou’s lap. He says, “You can eat.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.”

Shuuzou tears off a piece of the cake, puts it into his mouth, and leans back against the cool leather seat. The AC is at full blast. It’s always so hot in his Dad’s beat-up ’97 Toyota. Dad had to tape a battery-operated fan to the dashboard. 

“May I try?” Akashi asks.

“Yeah, sure.” Shuuzou hands over the plate.

Before eating, Akashi asks the driver if he wants any. Shuuzou glances at the suit again then asks Akashi, “Are you two here on a business trip? How old are you anyway?”

Akashi swallows a piece of cake and then licks powdered sugar off the top of his pointer finger. 

Shuuzou swallows too and then scowls. He’s not sure whether Akashi is flirting with him or not. He’s not totally against the idea of flirting, but withholding information isn’t cute.

“Hey, I asked you a question,” he says.

“I am in tenth grade,” Akashi says. He puts the funnel cake back in Shuuzou’s lap. “Father thought it would be a good time to start my tour of prestigious universities to see which one has the potential to make me into an upstanding future CEO.”

Shuuzou feels more at ease. Akashi may be rolling in wealth, and possibly royalty, but he’s still in school, and a year younger too. Shuuzou says, “You’re here to see UCLA? I can take you there. It’s where we’re headed. I’m going to a community college next year, after I graduate, but I’m planning on going there after that.”

The driver clears his throat delicately.

Akashi says, “Thank you for the offer, but I have to go with my Father.” He smiles. “However, I am sure there are other places you can take me.”

The driver coughs.

“Hiro-san, you must rest so that you can recover from your cold,” Akashi says. “Don’t worry about me. Nijimura-san can keep me company.”

***

Hiro seems reluctant to let Akashi go off with Shuuzou after they reach Sunset Boulevard, but Akashi mentions something about how Shuuzou “took good care” of him at Six Flags, and Hiro finally lets them out of the car.

They walk around West Hollywood for a while, Akashi looking at the stores and cafés. He doesn’t seem impressed. 

He keeps walking until they reach a crowd of pedestrians standing in a semi-circle around a young violinist, who is enthusiastically playing a rendition of a pop song on an electric violin. Akashi stares intently at the violinist for about a minute. And then he moves on, without waiting for her to finish, the same pinched look on his face that he had on the Superman. 

“You don’t seem to be having fun here either,” Shuuzou says. “How about going to the beach?”

“I have already visited Venice Beach,” Akashi says.

“Wow, you’re a lot of fun. So far, it seems you hate roller coasters, amusement parks, beaches, violinists-”

“I don’t hate violinists,” Akashi snaps.

“Whoa okay.” Shuuzou grins. “Guess you do know how to get mad, huh.”

“I play the violin,” Akashi says. “And my mother used to.”

Shuuzou knows, suddenly, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, what the “used to” implies. He tries not to think about how awful it would be to use similar words in the future, saying things like, “my father used to.” 

He says, “Sorry.”

Akashi nods.

Shuuzou says, in a too-loud voice, “Hey, I’ve been wondering, are you related to the royal family?”

“No.” Akashi frowns. “Why? Are you?”

“Maybe. You never know, right?” Shuuzou nudges Akashi in the side.

Akashi almost jumps, looking very startled. He probably doesn’t have many friends, Shuuzou thinks. Ones that are around his age and aren’t intimidated by him, at least. It’s a good thing they’ve met each other. Shuuzou resolves to make Akashi have fun at least once before they say goodbye.

This in mind, Shuuzou leads them to the Pink Taco. Eating tacos, especially the spicy ones, can be a fun activity. He asks Akashi, “Want to have lunch here?”

Akashi looks at the sign for a moment, mouths the word “taco” to himself, and then nods.

***

Akashi has just finished his fifth glass of water, and is wiping his nose and eyes, when Shuuzou’s phone buzzes in his pocket again. It’s probably Tatsuya again. Shuuzou considers ignoring the text. The texts have become increasingly embarrassing. The last one said “does the carpet match the drapes.” But he checks anyway because it could be a text from his dad.

It’s Tatsuya again, but this time he is asking Shuuzou to come help him and Kagami pummel yet another group of guys who are trying to teach them their place on the court. Tatsuya has sent directions to a court near Shuuzou’s house.

“What the fuck are they even doing on a basketball court,” Shuuzou says. “They were supposed to stay at Six Flags the whole day.”

Akashi dabs at the corners of his mouth with a napkin and then says, “I play basketball.”

Shuuzou almost drops his phone in surprise. “What?” he yells.

He looks at Akashi again. He hadn’t considered the possibility that Akashi played. Akashi looks pretty fit, but he is kind of short for a basketball player. 

But not impossibly short. He is probably a point guard. It would be nice to have a decent point guard in the upcoming game.

“Wanna play a game of American streetball?” Shuuzou asks. “You might not get to see the sunset on the Boulevard today though.”

Akashi says, “That’s alright. Is American streetball very different from Japanese streetball?”

“Not really. Just more cursing in English. There are a lot of tall guys too.”

“I know how to curse in English,” Akashi says. “And height doesn’t matter. I never lose.” He wipes his nose again. “I am not familiar with that concept.”

“Great.” Shuuzou stands up. “Call Hiro. We have a match to win.”

***

Akashi is clearly the shortest player on the court, but no one’s laughing after he gets his hands on the ball. And, as Akashi plows his way to the basket, people are looking downright scared.

Shuuzou watches the ball swish through the net and then he looks at Akashi’s bright eyes. He feels weirdly warm inside. When Akashi passes the ball to him a few moments later, a perfect pass, his breath catches in his throat. He can’t help thinking something very embarrassing, something like, “I’ve waited my whole life for you, and now I’ve found you.” 

He considers tossing himself into the net along with the ball after that thought, but Akashi says, “Nice dunk, Nijimura-san,” and, well, maybe being this embarrassing is okay.

After they win and the other team finishes their trash-talking and leaves the court, Tatsuya suggests (in a low voice, so that Akashi and Kagami, who are having an argument, can’t hear) that they have dinner together. “It can be a double-date,” Tatsuya says, winking.

Shuuzou frowns. “No. And I’m going home anyway. Dad and I are going fishing.”

“Oh? Are you taking Akashi with you?”

“Hah?! No.”

But, after Tatsuya and Kagami have left, Shuuzou thinks about that for a moment. Introducing Akashi to Dad. Going fishing together, the three of them. But it would make things awkward between them. He just met Akashi a few hours ago on the roller coaster.

Shuuzou asks Akashi, “How long are you staying in LA?”

Akashi brushes his sweaty hair out of his eyes. “Until the end of the week,” he says.

“Wanna meet up tomorrow?”

“Alright,” Akashi replies, without hesitation. 

“Great.” Shuuzou smiles.

Akashi asks, “May we do a little bit of this tomorrow?”

“A little bit of what?”

Akashi grasps the front of Shuuzou’s T-shirt, pulls Shuuzou down, and presses his lips to Shuuzou’s mouth.

“That,” Akashi says.

Akashi is still trying to look unaffected, but his cheeks have turned almost as red as his hair. 

Shuuzou grips Akashi’s shoulders with both hands. “Yeah,” he says. Then he kisses Akashi back, longer this time, an extended preview of what they can do tomorrow.


End file.
